The utilization of the mesoporous Ti-SBA-15 catalyst in the epoxidation of allyl alcohol to glycidol and diglycidyl ether in the water medium

Abstract

Abstract This work presents the studies on the optimization the process of allyl alcohol epoxidation over the Ti-SBA-15 catalyst. The optimization was carried out in an aqueous medium, wherein water was introduced into the reaction medium with an oxidizing agent (30 wt% aqueous solution of hydrogen peroxide) and it was formed in the reaction medium during the processes. The main investigated technological parameters were: the temperature, the molar ratio of allyl alcohol/hydrogen peroxide, the catalyst content and the reaction time. The main functions the process were: the selectivity of transformation to glycidol in relation to allyl alcohol consumed, the selectivity of transformation to diglycidyl ether in relation to allyl alcohol consumed, the conversion of allyl alcohol and the selectivity of transformation to organic compounds in relation to hydrogen peroxide consumed. The analysis of the layer drawings showed that in water solution it is best to conduct allyl alcohol epoxidation in direction of glycidol (selectivity of glycidol 54 mol%) at: the temperature of 10–17°C, the molar ratio of reactants 0.5–1.9, the catalyst content 2.9–4.0 wt%, the reaction time 2.7–3.0 h and in direction of diglycidyl ether (selectivity of diglycidyl ether 16 mol%) at: the temperature of 18–33°C, the molar ratio of reactants 0.9–1.65, the catalyst content 2.0–3.4 wt%, the reaction time 1.7–2.6 h. The presented method allows to obtain two very valuable intermediates for the organic industry.